Oh, it seemed the older one must be some kind of manager among the maids.
“This is Mia,” the older maid said, her tone carrying a deliberate hint of instruction and arrangement.
“The servants Your Highness used in the countryside are vulgar and insolent, ignorant of court etiquette. They can only handle running errands and odd jobs. Keeping them by your side would only cause embarrassment and damage your dignity.”
“From now on, Mia will be fully responsible for your daily life, meals, and routine attendance in the palace.”
While these words sounded like they were spoken for Bai Ci's sake, in reality, they made it clear that they intended to completely replace all her old servants, placing her daily life, movements, and schedule entirely under their control.
If she were a real little princess from the countryside, she might have meekly accepted it.
As a side note, if this had been Bai Ci before the previous instance, she might have accepted it too, just to let her enemies lower their guard.
But now that she had means to monitor them, rather than blindly backing down and acting like a pushover, she might as well actively confront them to force their hand, making it easier to find flaws and dig up clues.
Furthermore, this safe, worry-free buffer period at the start was precisely the best time to gather clues, map out the power structure, and test everyone's stance.
Well, a kingdom management simulator was probably out of the question now. The version had been updated to a kingdom political intrigue game.
Bai Ci slowly let go of her supporting hands. She glanced at the king, who had closed his eyes and fallen completely asleep after taking his medicine, then stood up straight and looked up at the older maid.
“Are you giving me orders?”
The head maid's respectful smile stiffened slightly, a trace of astonishment flitting through her eyes. She clearly hadn't expected this little princess to dare contradict her in public.
She quickly concealed the strange look in her eyes, maintained her proper posture, bowed slightly, and softened her tone a bit.
“Your Highness misunderstands. I am merely acting out of my duty as the palace head maid, keeping Your Highness's honor and dignity in mind. It was a well-meaning suggestion, with absolutely no intent to command.”
“Keeping my honor in mind?”
Bai Ci let out a soft laugh.
“Do you mean to say that even my choice of servants is restricted by you? You certainly have a lot of nerve.”
The smile on the head maid's face could no longer be maintained, but since she didn't dare openly defy Bai Ci's status, she could only brace herself and press on.
“I am indeed keeping Your Highness's best interests in mind.”
“The palace rules are strict, and every word and action affects the royal dignity. If the servants around you make a mistake and lose their manners, it is Your Highness's reputation that will ultimately suffer.”
“If Your Highness insists on keeping those people, you must consider the consequences.”
“Oh...” Bai Ci responded, pressing further. “So?”
She took a small half-step forward.
“If something really goes wrong and you can't even handle that, how about we replace you with a head maid who can?”
The head maid's spine tensed slightly, the stiff smile on her face frozen. “Your Highness must be joking. I was only making a suggestion. Everything will naturally be subject to Your Highness's wishes.”
Bai Ci took another step forward and patted the maid's shoulder. “It had better be.”
In fact, when she patted her shoulder, she had quietly placed an Eye on the head maid.
Having done all this, Bai Ci stopped looking at the tense head maid and turned to look at Mia, who had been standing to the side with her hands down and a meek expression.
“Take me back.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Mia bowed in response, her manner respectful and proper, showing no signs of anything unusual as she quietly turned to lead the way.
The long palace corridor was carpeted with thick velvet, making their footsteps completely silent. The gilded chandeliers on the vaulted ceiling cast alternating patches of light and shadow, making the corridor look magnificent yet desolate.
Guards stood solemnly along the way, each with a stern expression and a tense aura, giving the entire imperial city a sense of structured majesty.
Bai Ci didn't want to miss any information, so she activated her Eye to see what kind of reaction the head maid would have.
Fortunately, if she was only eavesdropping, the Spirit cost wasn't high. The physical feedback was weak and almost negligible, well within the safe threshold.
It just required her to multitask, listening to what was happening on her end while also listening to what was happening over there.
The journey passed in silence, and they arrived smoothly at her bedchamber.
Mia meticulously pushed open the doors, bowing as she waited for Bai Ci to enter, before systematically reporting on the bedchamber's arrangements.
“Your Highness, the bedchamber has been cleaned and arranged in advance. Hot tea, refreshments, and calming incense have all been prepared, and the clothing and bedding have been changed.”
“If you have no other commands, I will stand guard in the outer chamber, ready for Your Highness's summons at any time.”
“Mhm, you may leave,” Bai Ci nodded.
“Yes.”
Mia bowed once more in a perfectly disciplined posture, quietly withdrew from the room, and gently closed the doors.
Finally alone, Bai Ci stood up and walked to the mirror, taking a good look at herself in the glass.
Sure enough, her feeling earlier hadn't been wrong. Her perspective really was different from usual.
Although she wasn't very good at telling the age of Westerners, the person reflected in the mirror was clearly a minor, right?
She looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.
In any case, she was a bit shorter than her usual self, which was why her perspective had felt a little strange earlier.
Indeed, she was quite a bit shorter.
After looking in the mirror, Bai Ci fished the slip of paper out of her sleeve.
Unfolding it, she saw only two brief, scribbled lines. The brushstrokes were faint and airy, indicating that the writer had been in a great hurry and possessed very little strength.
[Do not trust the Colin family.
Commander Vincent of the Temple Knights is upright and trustworthy.]
As Bai Ci listened to the head maid going about her normal business, she managed to extract some local clues from her conversations.
For instance, she heard the head maid talking to others about her—who had just been brought back today—hinting both openly and secretly that she was just a country girl who didn't understand etiquette.
As expected, she was up to no good.
Seriously, was this really a political intrigue instance?
Wasn't there going to be some kind of anomalous event to spice things up? Please, let there be one.
She didn't actually have that many schemes up her sleeve. If it came down to a battle of wits, she might not necessarily outplay these people. She could only rely on her information advantage to gain the upper hand.
Speaking of information advantages.
Bai Ci remembered she had something else to check.
Her skill panel. Sometimes, the information on it—especially regarding the background of her bound character—would reveal some pretty incredible things.
Bai Ci opened her Rain's Message panel.
She had an intuition. The king had left her two pieces of information, and one of them was likely related to her Rain's Message target.
Although the description of her Cloud Rendezvous skill said it was random, when she actually bound with someone in an instance, they were mostly characters closely related to the main quest.
Some had more screen time, while others had less.
Broadly speaking, they were always characters with names and reputations; she had never seen it bind to a complete nobody.
The Colin family... for the king to specifically point them out and warn her, they were probably powerful courtiers, right?
And the other was the Temple Knights—an organization that held military power?
But why “Temple”? Why not “Royal” or something else?
Wow... this was some truly classic political intrigue. Not only were there powerful courtiers, but was there also the matter of theocracy?
When it rains, it pours.
Rate on N.U.
